I voted this morning from Australia, and if I wasn't already loosely following the election in NZ I don't think I'd have realised there was one, except that the electoral commission (knowing where I lived from me having pro-actively updated the roll) sent me a letter some time back telling me how to download special voting papers, and last week the Green Party sent me a letter, bulk-sent from a mail centre outside Melbourne, reminding me that there was an election coming and suggesting why I should vote for them. Historically it makes some sense that the only party I heard from when overseas was the Green Party.

Yesterday browsing a random blog I discovered the election was actually this weekend, and that I'd have to figure out very smartly how to get my vote in. It turns out that after printing the form (I don't own a printer) I'd need to either fax the forms (I don't own a fax), or put the various forms into three separate envelopes (only a coincidence I actually own any envelopes), then either post it to arrive before Friday (I don't own any stamps so that'd have been a hassle) or drop it into one of two posts in all of Victoria. Fortunately they're both within 10 minutes walk of where I work in the CBD, so I hopped over to the Victorian Electoral Commission today during my lunch break with my two labelled sealed envelopes inside a third sealed envelope. T'was all part of the process of being a voter overseas, I guess, and I probably had it very easy by comparison, but I'm glad I didn't have to bother with trying to post anything!

I offered to drop a form in for my wife, who works well out of town, but she's not keen on voting because she doesn't have a clue what's been happening in NZ over the past year or so, and generally thinks all politicians are slimy and manipulative.

offered to drop a form in for my wife, who works well out of town, but she's not keen on voting because she doesn't have a clue what's been happening in NZ over the past year or so, and generally thinks all politicians are slimy and manipulative.

I have to have my phone off from 8am to about 10pm. I dunno how I'm going to cope. I need someone to sneak me count updates from Ohariu.

Good luck with that one... I remember the contortions of trying to get an 'unauthorised' pizza into the count - we had a complex polling station handling three electorates, so the count took much longer than normal. IIRC we ultimately had to resort to some sort of 'airlock' system to get the thing in. Then again, you could get someone to slip notes into the pizza box on the way.

I liked Bryan Bruce's idea that we should have a Minister for Children and that it should be the Prime Minister. It might help the person in that very important role to get a longer term perspective. We certainly don't have much to be proud of when it comes to looking out for kids from low income families and that needs to change - quickly...

It turns out that after printing the form (I don’t own a printer) I’d need to either fax the forms (I don’t own a fax), or put the various forms into three separate envelopes (only a coincidence I actually own any envelopes), then either post it to arrive before Friday (I don’t own any stamps so that’d have been a hassle) or drop it into one of two posts in all of Victoria.

C'mon, though, they're pretty much giving you all the options they can. (And when you download the voting papers, the due dates are given pretty prominently in the instructions, and also on the website.) You can also *post* it to your local consulate, which is the option we picked.

Yes, the only way they could have made it absolutely minimal in cost for remote voters would be to send SSAEs on demand, addressed to the most local consulate. I think that there is an argument that if you're miles out in some remote country far from NZ, that it's not on the NZ taxpayer to seek you out personally, and that if you have to go to the trouble to work out the postal service there, that's fair enough.

Heavens!I haz teh dreamz... the Gnatschnell Party is providing a free solar eclipse for all Gnu Cylinders on the eve of the general election... Mr Key promises to return the sun to the sky if everyone does the Right thing on Saturday, but I suspect such a portentous event will cause the pagan Epsomebodies to sacrifice Mr Banks just in case - by tearing the still bleating heart from ACT.

Brits are theoretically eligible to vote for 20 years from leaving the country.

But you have to register every year (no reminders) and have to use the ballot papers sent, which typically arrive by mail a week before election day, giving you very little time to get them back. The only way to vote reliably is to have a proxy (who has to live in your old electorate) vote for you.

Seriously, what’s the argument against fixing the election date on (say) the Saturday after the third Friday in November? The only exception being the Government losing confidence or supply, in which case the election is held at a time determined by statute NOT the strategic convenience of the Prime Minister.

I'm in favour of this in theory, but I wonder about practicalities. How many similar Westminster systems have a fixed electoral date? Work OK?

Canada has fixed election date laws in place at the Federal level, and in many Provinces.

They are routinely ignored: for example, when a PM (Federal) or Premier (Provincial) is replaced by someone new who wants to "refresh their mandate", or an incumbent is simply frustrated by their Opposition and fancies their chances of winning greater representation via another election.

The constitutional power of the PM or Premier to instruct the Governor-General (Federal) or Lieutenant-General (Provincial) to dissolve the House and call an election is unchanged.

Pure political theatre, particularly on the part of various right-wing parties.

C'mon, though, they're pretty much giving you all the options they can.

Yes and like I mentioned I think it was easy by comparison. There's only so much that can be done for people overseas. I just miss being able to drop into a nearby polling booth. It's my first time stuck outside NZ during an election and it feels isolated over here.

I feel miffed that the Green Party was the only one that tried to chase me for a vote. Did anyone else overseas hear anything direct from any other parties? :P

It’s my first time stuck outside NZ during an election and it feels isolated over here.

I feel miffed that the Green Party was the only one that tried to chase me for a vote. Did anyone else overseas hear anything direct from any other parties? :P

I hear ya. We're making our American friends stay up to watch the election results with us. It's really odd to care so much about something and know that no-one else around you is even aware it's happening.

I think my Labour membership has lapsed, but I've certainly got a lot of email from them about how to vote and that I can vote. Haven't heard from anyone else - but then, none of them have my email or address, so I wouldn't expect to, and would be a bit miffed if they'd managed to get their hands on them.

but then, none of them have my email or address, so I wouldn’t expect to, and would be a bit miffed if they’d managed to get their hands on them.

I thought the Green Party took my aussie postal address from the electoral roll. I can't think how else they'd have gotten it, but there are probably easily enough kiwis in Australia that it makes sense to bulk-mail domestically. I know the Greens traditionally gain the most, but I'm still surprised nobody else even tried, at least in my direction.